Think aerodynamics in the animal world, and your mind may turn to the barn swallow and the peregrine falcon, the shark, and the sailfish, perhaps the greyhound. You probably won’t conjure up the image of the zaftig, waddling skunk.

But think aerodynamic designs from hands and minds of humankind, and you can’t help but turn your mind to the legendary Skunk Works.

That pungent nickname surely imparts more character and color to a long-running series of aviation innovations than the bland and anodyne, if accurate, bureaucratic title of the Lockheed Martin unit, Advanced Development Programs. Cutting-edge aircraft that have emerged from the hush-hush environs of the Skunk Works include the U-2, the A-12 (which became the SR-71 Blackbird), the F-117, and the F-22.